SSR stands for Speed Star Racing — a works team that won its All-Japan F2000 debut in 1977 and stopped racing in 1995. The company behind it failed in 2005 and was bought by a suspension manufacturer. The three-piece wheels are still made in Yao, Osaka.
BBS: The German Brand That Is Made in Toyama
The name is German. The forged wheels are Japanese. BBS Japan began in 1971 making textile bobbins in Toyama, supplied the forging technology the brand was built on, and now sole-supplies Formula 1 — while the German company has gone insolvent five times.
How to Read the Markings on a WORK Wheel — Two Sets, Photographed From Our Own Stock
Eight WORK wheels in our own hands: a multi-piece VS-KF set and a one-piece Meister S1R set, photographed mark by mark. Where the stamps are, what they mean, what we got wrong, and what we still cannot verify.
OZ Racing: One of Its Wheels Is Made in Japan — and Only One
OZ consolidated to Italy-only production around 2017, with a single documented exception: the Japan-only Rally Racing 16, made by ENKEI. Which also means an older OZ wheel is not automatically Italian.
RS WATANABE: A Racing Car Builder That Has Sold the Same Wheel Since 1968
RS Watanabe was founded in 1967 to build racing cars. The Eight-Spoke arrived in 1968 and is still in production, the founder is still president, and the company also makes golf clubs and rickshaws.
WEDS: The Listed Company That Says It Built Japan’s First Forged Three-Piece
Weds started in 1965 selling Nissan accessories, became a wheel company in 1973, and says its 1977 Racing Forge was Japan’s first forged three-piece alloy wheel. It is also the only major Japanese wheel brand you can read audited accounts for.
ADVAN Racing & AVS: The Wheel Brand Inside a Tyre Company
ADVAN Racing is a product line of The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. – and the only major Japanese wheel maker that publishes its full manufacturing process. Casting at 700C, slant moulds, flow forming, T6 plus special treatment, and an 8,000-ton forging press.
ENKEI: The 7,359-Person Multinational Behind a “JDM” Badge
Enkei was founded in 1950 as Enshu Light Alloy, was exporting to America by 1967 and building wheels in Indiana by 1985. Today it employs 7,359 people, 81% of them outside Japan. A brand profile from the company’s own Japanese-language records.
RAYS: A Company History Told in Forging Presses
RAYS installed six forging presses between 1986 and 2004, the largest rated at 10,000 tons – and publishes every one of them in its official history. A brand profile built from the group’s own Japanese-language corporate records.
WORK Wheels: The 170-Person Company Behind Japan’s Multi-Piece Standard
WORK opened a dedicated three-piece wheel factory in 1979, two years after founding, and today runs 70% of its machining lines on multi-piece rims. A brand profile built entirely from the company’s own Japanese-language corporate records.